Ocean, nature, critters, and recreation

March 2012

Mar 29, 2012

In support of the California Department of Fish and Game and its effort to keep hunters and anglers informed, Pete Thomas Outdoors, on Thursday or Friday, posts marine biologist Carrie Wilson's weekly California Outdoors Q&A column:

Question: I often go to Fort Bragg with a group of friends to get abalone. On the first day we all make our dives, and then in the evening we have abalone and a fish fry. The abalone is all sliced, pounded and breaded. Some always remains uncooked or cooked and not eaten. We go diving again the next day and get our limits again, and then head home that day or the next. I know I may only possess three abalone in the shells. However, what about the abalone I have left over, including the abalone that has been sliced, pounded and breaded for food? Will I be in violation for being over my limit? Do I need to keep the old shells and tags? (Terri L., Nipomo)

Answer: The law states: No more than one daily bag limit of each kind of fish, amphibian, reptile, mollusk or crustacean named may be taken or possessed by any one person unless otherwise authorized; regardless of whether they are fresh, frozen, or otherwise preserved (California Code of Regulations Title 14, Section 1.17).

According to Department of Fish and Game Lt. Dennis McKiver, even if you have leftover abalone that is pounded, breaded and cooked, it still remains part of your abalone limit until you either eat it or give it away. If you have a partial abalone left over after your first day’s dinner, you would only be allowed to get two abalone the next day. Otherwise you would be over your possession limit. If you have three tagged abalone in their shells and one partial abalone pounded and breaded and you are headed home, you would not only be in violation of being in possession of an over limit, but you would also be in violation of transporting an abalone that has been removed from the shell.

In the future, make sure you eat all of your prepared abalone or else give it away before you get another full limit or head home.

Q: I want to keep a pet dwarf caiman and was wondering how I can get a permit to do so. I know a lot about them and how to handle them properly based on what I’ve learned from other gator experts and gator farm workers. I have done a lot of research myself and know to never release a caiman into the wild. (Ian L.)

A juvenile gray whale that had been tangled in commercial fishing gear was freed Thursday off the Palos Verdes Peninsula, a day after being spotted by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crew off Orange County.

The 25- to 30-foot whale, which had several wraps of polypropylene line around its tail, was said to be in reasonably good condition and was swimming strongly after the last of the gear had been cut away.

The line was the type used to connect lobster and crab traps to surface buoys. It's believed the whale picked up the gear off Baja California. (Gray whales are currently migrating from breeding grounds in Baja's lagoons to Arctic feeding grounds.)

This is the second rescue effort in six days off Southern California. The first, last Saturday off Dana Point, was successful after a marathon endeavor by Capt. Dave Anderson and his disentanglement team.

However, that whale, which had been dragging a large gill-net wrapped around its tail section, is believed to be the same whale that was found dead Tuesday afternoon inside Long Beach Harbor.

The latest had been traveling with a larger whale on Wednesday. Anderson and his team tried to rescue the whale Wednesday afternoon but conditions were too rough, so the team outfitted the whale with two bright buoys, so it could be spotted more easily Thursday morning.

Monica DeAngelis, a marine biologist with NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service, said it's unusual to have two whale entanglements in the same general area in less than a week.

But she added that whale entanglements are not uncommon. In the period from 2001 to 2011 there have been 78 entanglement reports. Thirty-one involved humpback whales and 19 involved gray whales. The others were fin whales (four), a minke whale and unidentified species (22).

People who spot an entangled whale are encouraged to call NOAA's Engangled Whale Hotline at (877) 767-9425.

-- A special thanks to researcher Alisa Schulman-Janiger for helping to gather facts for this report.

An attempt to rescue a young gray whale tangled in fishing gear was expected to resume Thursday morning off Point Vicente on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The distressed whale was first spotted Wednesday afternoon off Newport Beach, but conditions were too rough to attempt a rescue before dark.

This is the second such effort in six days off Southern California. The first, last Saturday off Dana Point, was successful after a marathon endeavor by Capt. Dave Anderson and his entanglement team.

However, that whale, which had been dragging a large gill-net wrapped around its tail section, might be the same whale that was found dead Tuesday afternoon inside Long Beach Harbor.

The Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach and Marine Animal Rescue are collaborating on the rescue effort, with permission from the National Marine Fisheries Service. As of 10 a.m. the disentanglement team was not with the whale.

Monica DeAngelis, a marine biologist with NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service, said it's unusual to have two whale entanglements in the same general area in less than a week.

But she added that whale entanglements are not uncommon. In the period from 2001 through 2010 there have been 78 entanglement reports off California. Thirty-one involved humpback whales and 19 involved gray whales. The others were fin whales (four), a minke whale and unidentified species (22).

Mar 28, 2012

For the second time in five days off Southern California, a trained disentanglement crew is attempting to free a gray whale caught in commercial fishing gear.

The latest is a sub-adult traveling with a larger whale. They were spotted swimming slowly to the north Wednesday afternoon off Newport Beach, by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crew, which noted that a line attached to a buoy was wrapped around the smaller whale's fluke.

Part of the same disentanglement group that freed a juvenile gray whale from a gill-net Saturday off Dana Point arrived alongside both whales before dusk Wednesday, but conditions were too rough to attempt to cut what looked like several wraps of polypropalene line (perhaps from a lobster trap) around the whale's tail section, or base of its fluke.

Instead, the group attached two large orange buoys and flashers to the line to make the whale easier to find on Thursday, when the rescue effort will resume. (If the entangled whale is spotted by boaters, they're asked to notify the Pacific Marine Mammal Center at 949-494 3050.)

For Dave Anderson, the leader of both rescue attempts, it has been an exhausting and emotional five days.

The juvenile gray whale his team freed from a massive gill-net after a marathon effort on Saturday might be the same whale that was found dead in Long Beach Harbor on Tuesday afternoon.

Both were thin and had similar wounds to the tail section, and the dead whale was trailing a short strip of black rope similar to the strip rescuers were unable to cut loose.

The match is not yet certain, however, but Anderson said that either way the publicity of these events helps to put the spotlight on the perils gill-nets and other indiscriminate fishing gear represent to migrating whales and other marine mammals.

"The good news is that because of the story, so many people now know that millions of dolphins and whales are killed by this type of fishing gear," he said. "So the whale's life will not have been for nothing."

A juvenile gray whale found dead inside Long Beach Harbor on Tuesday afternoon probably is the same whale that was freed from a fishing net off Dana Point on Saturday evening.

Monica DeAngelis, a biologist with NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service, could not confirm this as fact but said that the dead whale, which was towed to sea by lifeguards on Tuesday afternoon, had similar wounds to its tail section.

It also was towing a small piece of black rope, similar to the piece of rope rescuers were unable to cut loose.

About 40 miles separates Dana Point and Long Beach.

"It's probable but it might also be another whale, because we do have a lot of whales that get caught in gear," DeAngelis said. "However, this whale was skinny and so was the whale in Dana Point."

Photographs of the dead whale were taken when the cetacean was upside down, so it's difficult to match them with photos taken during the rescue effort, DeAngelis added. There is a size estimate discrepancy: The dead whale measured about 20 feet, while rescuers estimated the length of the animal they freed at closer to 30 feet.

It's hoped that DNA samples collected from the dead whale will provide more information, but the biologist said there was no viable DNA from the fishing net collected by rescuers.

The gray whale was discovered with a large and heavy mass of gill-net tangled around its tail, or fluke area, last Friday afternoon. A trained disentanglement team worked all day Saturday to remove the netting, which contained a dead sea lion and dead sharks.

Based on the condition of those creatures, the whale might have been entangled for a week or more.

The effort was led by Dave Anderson of Capt. Dave's Dolphin and Whale Safari. The whale was given the name "Bart" in honor of Peter Bartholomew, who stayed with the cetacean throughout Friday night, so rescuers would be able to locate the mammal and begin work Saturday morning.

The story received widespread news coverage and Anderson on Wednesday said this is a positive story regardless of whether the dead whale was Bart.

"Even if it is Bart -- and I'm not convinced that it is -- the good news is that because of the story, so many people now know that millions of dolphins and whales are killed by this type of fishing gear. So the whale's life will not have been for nothing."

Gray whales, many of them mothers with calves, are migrating from Baja California breeding grounds to Arctic feeding grounds.

-- Images show gray whale after being freed (top) and probably the same whale after it had washed into Long Beach Harbor. Credit: Mike Johnson and NOAA Fisheries, respectively

Mar 27, 2012

A bald eaglet named D12 was welcomed into the world after breaking free of its egg at 1:16 p.m. Tuesday in Decorah, Iowa, as more than 65,000 people watched via live webcam.

The mother eagle quickly covered her baby to protect it from a brisk wind, and so began another chapter in the lives of the world's most popular bald eagle family. Two other eggs will soon hatch and then this incredible nature reality show will really get interesting.

Last year millions of people from around the planet watched as three eaglets were raised from ungainly brown fur balls to large and handsome birds of prey, ultimately fledging to begin lives on their own terms.

In anticipation of Tuesday's hatch, Sherri Elliott posted a clever story about the pipping process and the parents' roles in the raising of their offspring on the Raptor Resource Project's Facebook page.

Part of it reads, "For anyone who worries about Mom pulling more duty than Dad, it’s been proven time and again whatta partnership this pair provide to their offspring. They’ve successfully reared and fledged 11 eaglets, and pretty soon we’ll be meeting this year’s bouncing bobbleheads! Pip, Pip, Hooray, I can hardly wait!"

(A pip is the first hole an eaglet creates in the egg shell before hatching.)

Below is the live eagle-cam for those interested in this year's saga. If it's anything like last year it'll be loaded with drama and intrigue. Millions will be watching so hopefully this will be another success story.

Mar 26, 2012

Somewhere off California, making its way north, is a juvenile gray whale that was freed Saturday night from nearly 50 feet of monofilament gill-net that had become wrapped around its fluke (see video below).

The imperiled whale was spotted Friday afternoon off Dana Point, and is free thanks to the admirable effort of a trained disentanglement team led by Dave Anderson of Capt. Dave's Dolphin and Whale Safari.

Volunteers spent the overnight hours keeping track of the whale's movements via a lighted buoy attached to the net. The team, with the permission of NOAA Fisheries, spent all day Saturday cutting the net's ropes, which threatened to sever the whale's fluke.

The whale broke free of the net just before dark. Alisa Schulman-Janiger, a gray whale researcher, said the mammal was emaciated and it remains unclear whether it will be able to regain its strength or find enough sustenance to survive the rest of its migration from Baja California to Arctic feeding grounds.

The whale was named "Bart" in honor of Peter Bartholomew, who babysat the whale in the overnight hours. Those involved in the disentanglement effort were Capt. Tom Southern, Mark Tyson, Steve Plantz, Barry Curtis, Mike Johnson, and Dana Friedman and Scott Davis from the Pacific Marine Mammal Center.

With Bartholomew on whale baby-sitting duty were Hank Davis and Gary Weiberg.

Interestingly, Capt. Dave has just published a coffee table book titled "Lily, A Gray Whale's Odyssey," which tells the saga of another gray whale that Anderson helped rescue years earlier.

Mar 23, 2012

The image alone suggests that the young orca was killed in a terrible manner -- but could it have been "blown up" during naval training exercises?

The 3-year-old female orca, which belonged to the endangered Southern Resident orcas of the Pacific Northwest, washed ashore on a beach in Washington state on Feb. 11.

Since then, speculation has increased regarding what might have killed the orca, which is known as L-112. Pressure on the U.S. Navy and Royal Canadian Navy to stop using sonar and conducting military exercises within critical orca habitat also has increased.

(There are fewer than 90 Southern Resident orcas, an extended family comprised of the J, K and L pods. They range from Monterey to northern British Columbia and utilize protected inshore waters off Puget Sound, mostly during the summer.)

The Royal Canadian Navy acknowledged using sonar off the Puget Sound/Vancouver Island area on Feb. 6, but has stated that there were no reports or indications of marine mammals in the vicinity.

A necropsy found the orca had suffered from blunt force trauma to both sides of its head and to its right side but the cause of death her not yet been determined.

Ken Balcomb, director of the Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbor, Wash., has implied that sonar alone could not have caused such extensive damage. The researcher is quoted in the San Juan Journal as saying, "Clearly the animal was blown up."

Balcomb, in Canada's CBC News, explained that the blunt force trauma did not appear to have been caused by the bow of a ship and added that he suspects the orca was killed by an explosive device deployed by the U.S. Navy during training exercises.

"I suspect she died in U.S. waters. And probably from an explosion," said Balcomb, who is hoping a National Marine Fisheries Service investigation will provide more insight into recent naval activities. "We're seeking information about what explosions at least the navy would be aware of."

The U.S. Navy has denied using explosives in the area in February.

The Kitsap Sun's Christopher Dunagan reported: "According to a permit issued under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Navy is allowed to conduct an average of 30 bombing exercises each year. That includes the use of 500-pound Mark-82 aerial bombs — although the Navy says the actual number of exercises does not come near that number."

Joe Gaydos, a veterinarian with The SeaDoc Society who participated in the necropsy, told Dunagan that the orca showed signs of a type of trauma that might be what a human would experience if dropped from a helicopter onto soft ground.

Blast trauma can be similar. Trauma caused by sonar is different from blunt force and blast trauma.

L-112 was "massively bloody in the ears and at the base of the ears," Balcomb said, implying that the damage was caused by a blast.

The Southern Residents will return to the Puget Sound area en masse in the summer. At that time researchers will conduct a census and try to determine if other pod members are missing.

Mar 22, 2012

In support of the California Department of Fish and Game and its effort to keep hunters and anglers informed, Pete Thomas Outdoors, on Thursday or Friday, posts marine biologist Carrie Wilson's weekly California Outdoors Q&A column:

Question: Is the Crab Hawk legal for use in California during open crabbing season? The ads say it is not a trap, and because it opens, crabs would not be damaged should they need to be released. Please clarify this for me and cite the appropriate section in the event you determine it is illegal. (Dennis J.)

Answer: The Crab Hawk traps are indeed traps and are not legal as sold because California state law requires traps to possess escape rings.

According to Department of Fish and Game Lt. Dennis McKiver, crab traps are required to have at least two rigid circular openings of not less than four and one-quarter inches inside diameter so constructed that the lowest portion of each opening is no lower than five inches from the top of the trap (California Code of Regulations Title 14, section 29.80(c)).

Traps that are not specifically provided for in this section may not be used for crabs or other invertebrates. The Crab Hawk trap is not specifically provided for, nor does it meet standards for crab traps in California, so it is not legal to use in the state.

Q: I am a California resident and get a yearly California license with the Colorado River stamp. I also buy a yearly nonresident Arizona fishing license in that state with no Colorado River stamp. Now the question is can I fish from the Arizona side in the river or launch my boat in Lake Havasu and be legal with what I have, or do I need an Arizona Colorado River stamp in addition to the California one? (John C., Banning)

Kohler had been exploring Death Valley with a bicycle touring group and was last seen at a campfire at the Mesquite Spring campground Monday March 12th at approximately 8:00 PM. According to interviews conducted with the bicycle group, Kohler departed from the campfire after saying he was tired.

In the morning when Kohler did not meet up with the rest of the group, his tent was opened up; but there was no sign of Kohler or any indication that he slept in his tent.

The Inyo County Coroner will perform an autopsy to determine the cause of death. Foul play is not suspected but the incident is under investigation.